


Stranger Things Stories - Stand Tall, Will Byers!

by WAluigipants



Series: Stranger Things Stories [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Mild Language, Shrinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25958689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WAluigipants/pseuds/WAluigipants
Summary: Will’s friends and family start mysteriously vanishing, but Eleven warns Will that they’re not gone or in the Upside Down shortly before going missing as well. What could be going on?
Series: Stranger Things Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884115
Kudos: 4





	1. Picture Day

“Class picture, everyone. Michael Wheeler, you stand in the back… Jane Hopper? Up front. Maxine Mayfield? Stand beside Jane. Lucas Sinclair, you stand beside Michael… Dustin? Up front. Remember! Tall people in the back, shorter folks in the front!” Mr. Clarke spoke as I stood in line, twiddling my thumbs.  
I, Will Byers, certainly am not tall. I’m not that confident, either. Neither confidence or height are my strongest qualities among my friends, nor was bravery either. But that would change as the days went by. How did that change? You’ll find out soon enough.  
I got to the front of the class picture, clearly among the shortest boys in my year, being just barely taller than Dustin. Mike? Five foot eight. Lucas? Probably around the same height. Me? A good few inches shorter than the both of them. But was Dustin bothered? No. I was. I didn’t have any dad to say if I was a late bloomer or not. Nothing to dictate anything at all or to give a good hint what I’d look like.  
Photo after photo, I felt as if I didn’t look my age at all. Neither slouching or standing up straight felt right. Both Mike and I were fourteen. But I was just the same height as El, who was thirteen. I decided to bring it up at lunch. As I sat at a table with my friends, I spoke up.  
“I really don’t like being one of the shortest people in the group.”  
“Dude. El’s the shortest. I’m the shortest guy in the group.” Dustin elbowed me in the rib. “Does that bother me? No. Why’s it bothering you, Will?”  
“After everything I’ve been through, you’d think I’d have grown a bit…”  
“That’s mental growth. Physical growth comes a bit later.”  
“C’mon. I don’t even look like a teenager.”  
“You don’t, and that’s okay by me. None of us should look like teenagers, Will. What are we? Thirteen? Fourteen years old? You’re thinking too much into it.”  
“So maybe I am. But don’t you want to be taken seriously? Don’t you want people to understand you?”  
“People don’t know whether to take me seriously or not, and I don’t mind. Steve gives pretty good advice to me either way.”  
“Well maybe his advice works for you, but it doesn’t for me.” I shook my head as Mike and El flirted with each other, making jokes about the upcoming assignments, with the same going for Lucas and Max.  
“Between you and me? I think love’s gotten a bit too their heads. Their brains are too thick for them to realize that there’s a fight among the party.” Dustin nudged me slightly. That we could agree on for now. It was best not to talk about it and just let this argument settle down.  
“There’s Dungeons and Dragons tonight. Dustin? Who’s the Dungeon Master this week?”  
“Mike, as usual.”  
The bell rang, and we headed to class.

After the school day ended, though, it was finally time for our Dungeons & Dragons session back in Mike’s basement. We picked up from our last campaign, where the Great Warlock had betrayed us in order to obtain a wish-granting treasure.  
“The Great Warlock casts a spell to eliminate all of you! Roll a constitution save to see if you survive!” Mike cried out.  
“Dude, are you seriously trying to kill all of our characters off at once?” Dustin groaned.  
“Not cool.” Eleven crossed her arms.  
“At least one person in the party will survive and be able to bring the other characters back from the dead or something. Stop being crybabies.”  
“You’re kind of making it seem like all of our work was for nothing, ‘Dungeon Master.’” Max raised an eyebrow as she rolled the dice.  
It was my turn to roll. Everyone else had been wiped out, vanished into nothing, except for me. It was all on Will the Wise to bring them back. I rolled the dice and got the lucky 20. I had survived.  
“Everyone’s dead or missing! How do I get them back?”  
“You’re ruining the narrative. Anyways, the Great Warlock uses the treasure’s power to teleport away. However, he’s left something in his wake: he left behind a single pearl, one of the seas. Will the Wise holds it up, shedding a tear, hoping it does something to bring back his friends… but to no avail. The pearl is indeed a magic artifact, but it’s not strong enough to bring back those who are lost just yet. A wise old sage appears and warns you to go back to the ancient shrine we were at before. The pearl holds a powerful connection to the temple, and requires the spirit and heart of a wise cleric to enter. That means you, Will the Wise. Only you can bring everyone back.”  
“Hold on. I’m a Zoomer. How come I wasn’t fast enough to outspeed the Great Warlock when he was about to eliminate us?”  
“Who’s the Dungeon Master here, Maxine?”  
“You. Never mind that, then…”  
“Will the Wise begins his journey and enters the temple. The presence of his friends lingers around him: were they, truly, truly gone? And that wraps things up for tonight!”  
“Dude, seriously?”  
“Dungeon Master. Besides, he’s gonna bring us back tomorrow. I can’t go longer than this: it’s a school night, remember?”  
“Right.” Lucas heaved a sigh and began to pack up his stuff. “See you guys in the morning. We’re headed home. C’mon, Max.” As the groups headed out of the Wheeler residence to go on home, I looked to Mike.  
“Don’t be so stressed out about this, Will. It’s only for one day: and it’s part of the narrative. What’s the worst that could happen?” Mike chuckled.  
“You’re right. But what do I need to do?”  
“Stand tall, Will Byers.”

The drive home in Jonathan’s car felt like it was a long one, but I arrived home just at the time I thought I would. I got ready for bed, and got all my stuff ready for tomorrow morning. But my SUPERCOM… it was on Mike’s channel, I heard small murmurs of something before it cut to static. Was it on all night? I shook my head, and went to bed.

The next day? Mike didn’t show up to school, and neither did Lucas. Something was clearly up. But what was it? Was it the Upside Down again? I had to ask El at lunch, and that’s what I did.  
“Hey, El? What do you know about Mike and Lucas’ whereabouts? They haven’t shown up to school at all today.”  
“They’re in town. They’re not in the Upside Down, that I know for sure.”  
“Then where are they?”  
“I don’t know, Will. I really… really don’t know. I try to get a good read on them, but it is quiet. Way too quiet. I can’t exactly get much on them. But they’ll show up.. But be careful. I might go missing too.”  
“How do I know if you’re not lying?” Dustin spoke up, raising an eyebrow.  
“You’re probably gonna go missing too, Dustin. But you’ll still be around. They haven’t vanished into the Upside Down. They’ve just vanished somewhere...”  
“What does that even mean?” I asked.  
“I don’t really know myself. But I can try to track them down and find them tomorrow. It’s a weekend.”  
“Right, right…”

We went on through the day as we would have normally. But things did feel a little off without Mike and Lucas around. I finally arrived home after a long day, and got to bed. What I would see the next morning surprised the heck out of me…


	2. Vanishing

Vanishing was clearly the wrong word. That morning, when I woke up to turn off my alarm, I saw something. No. Someone. It was… Mike? In my bedroom, out of all places, looking a little different. I could have sworn I was dreaming or hallucinating. I pinched myself, rubbed my eyes, and squinted before he crossed his arms and yelled at me. There was Mike, the size of a D&D figurine… or other words, either one or two inches tall.  
“Will! Wake up! It’s not a dream! You’re seeing me right here, right now!” He yelled from my dresser. I shuddered, realizing that this was actually him. But how did he… shrink? Last I checked, the only time things like this happened was in fantasy movies or books.  
“Did you tell my mom about what happened to you? Did you tell El?”  
“Dude, she left the moment I got here, and it took a day for me to get here for Pete’s sake. And do you think El would even take me seriously looking like… this?” He gestured to himself. “Look, Will. You’re my best bet for something like this. Whatever happened has to be related to the Upside Down, and you’re the next best thing to Eleven here.”  
“Wait. You don’t remember what happened?”  
“I don’t remember completely, Will. I remember waking up in my basement the other day after it got foggy around my house that one night after we played D&D.”  
“There was fog? I don’t recall there being fog on the drive home.”  
“Then something is clearly up. I woke up in my basement the size I am now yesterday. I tried using the SUPERCOM, but I couldn’t pull out the antenna. I tried using the phone too, maybe tried getting Nancy’s attention, but nothing worked. So I made my way over to your place. Took a hell of a while.”  
“Did… did you run into Lucas too? We haven’t heard from him either.”  
“Lucas is missing?”  
“If this is what happened to you, Mike, it might have happened to Lucas.”  
“Fair point. Where do you think we should start looking?”  
“Mirkwood? Dustin’s place? Maybe Sinclair’s house?”  
“The Palace. Max said something about trying out a two-player game with him the next day… and maybe he ran into the fog that I ran into when he was riding over there?”  
“That’s gotta be what happened. Mike? Shoulders or shirt pocket?”  
“What about your backpack? I don’t wanna be seen out in public like this!”  
“Alright, fine.” I gently picked up Mike and put him in my pack, leaving a small part unzipped so he could breathe. “El said she could go missing again, and the same went for Dustin. You don’t think they…”  
“It probably happened, Will. We gotta check if we aren’t too late. And are you seriously going out in your pajamas?”  
I looked down at myself. I forgot to change. I bit my lip, grabbed some outdoor clothes, and locked the door and the windows to my room. There wasn’t anything in my house to get at him. No evil toys, no cats, no anything. Whatever was going on, I could solve it, couldn’t I? Putting on the classic plaid, sweater, and jeans combo, I headed back into my room, picked up my backpack, snatched some breakfast, and was about to head out the door before Jonathan, my older brother, caught me by surprise.  
“Hey, Will? Mom’s car is here, but I don’t see her anywhere. I know you just woke up, but… have you seen her around?” He asked, looking worried. I looked up at him, coming to a realization on what this statement might mean going off of current circumstances. My friends were being shrunk by some fog or something. Could this have happened to Mom? I didn’t like what seemed to be happening.  
“Uhhh…”  
“Will?”  
“She’s gotta be around the house, right? Look in every room. Every nook and cranny, Jonathan. Even in places, you wouldn’t think she’d be… in the cabinets, under the bed… Call me crazy, but… just trust me here.”  
“I don’t think this is a joke, Will. Do you really know where she is?”  
“I don’t know where she is. Just look for Mom, alright? I’m… stopping by the arcade to see if I left my friends behind. Please, just trust me. I’ve got a bad feeling about all of this.” I opened the door, looking at my brother. I got on my bike, and pedaled as fast as I could to the arcade. I headed inside, backpack and all, looking around and under me for any sign of Max, Lucas, Dustin, or El. It was then that I found a broken arcade machine and some soft voices from inside. I bent down to look at what was there, and Mike poked his head out of my pack.   
“That’s gotta be where they are. Whatever got me has got them too. Will? Can you let me down?” Mike asked. I brought my hand to my bag, and brought it down to the arcade, looking around warily as Keith walked over.  
“Uh… don’t mind me! Just seeing what’s wrong with the arcade machine. I’m… in AV Club over at Hawkins Middle School. I… I know what I’m doing.”  
“Careful you don’t erase MADMAX’s high score. She’ll be pissed, and you know that.” Keith ate another cheeto puff before walking off and leaving me be. Moments later, Mike and the others crawled out from the arcade machine. It seemed like the fog got all of my friends… even Eleven, who was the best at fighting down weird stuff like this.   
“Looks like you’re the tallest kid here, Will. You got what you wanted, right?” Dustin said with a smirk on his face. Sure, he was right, but this wasn’t how I wanted it. I rolled my eyes.  
“Dustin? Was anyone else shrunk? When did it happen?”  
“No. Just like everyone else in the party as far as I can tell. We got here to be the first ones to play the new game, then we saw a tiny Lucas in one of the back rooms when we were trying to redeem our tokens from it. He was screaming, trying to get our attention, and then… that’s all I could remember before the three of us blacked out, barring Lucas. We were lucky we found an empty arcade machine to hide in.”  
“Have you tried contacting Steve about any of this?”  
“You think I can operate a phone at this size?”  
“No. I… should probably check, right? But I gotta check on Mom first. I’ve got a feeling that whatever’s been happening might have gotten to her too. And if it’s still around, it probably got to my brother.”  
“Eleven? Do your powers still work?” Mike asked.  
“Sort of. I can’t exactly do too much with my powers at this size. A lot of things are too big to move around with my powers… It will be a lot to take a lot out of me, about as much energy I used to close the gate.”  
“So it’s all on Will, then, huh?” Lucas crossed his arms.  
“Kind of like our campaign.” Mike added.  
“Hey, Will? You think we can stop by Steve’s place after checking on your brother and your mom?” Dustin asked. “I think Steve should be able to help… maybe Nancy, too, if we can stop by Mike’s place.”  
“We can stop by there for clues on why and how you guys ended up like this, maybe ask Nancy for help. But after we’ve got everyone rounded up, we should all go see Chief Hopper. He’s… good with things like this. The only thing we have to worry about is making sure the smog or fog or whatever it is doesn’t get to everyone before we’re able to get to them. Alright, everyone? In my backpack.”  
“What? I can’t call shotgun? I want the front pocket.” Mike laughed.  
“Just a while ago you said you didn’t want El to see you like this, so you wanted the backpack.”  
“Well, she’s small too, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”  
“Make up your mind, lovebird.” Max groaned.  
“Fine. We’ll rotate pocket positions. One of us has to keep watch… function as Will’s second set of eyes.”  
“Mike, can I go with you? I can use my powers to try to… keep… tabs… on everyone else we’re looking for.” Eleven asked.  
“Uh, sure.” Mike said, blushing. I didn’t exactly like being the dating spot for the two of them, but did it matter? All of my friends were together.

Responsibility was a must in this situation. It’s easy for something small to get hurt. And this responsibility is even bigger if it’s your friends and potentially your family. I couldn’t get too reckless on my bike. I had to make sure that I zipped my backpack just right for my friends so that they could breathe. I had to keep this up for days, and it… honestly got worse. But it was pretty satisfying to know that everyone was behind my back, rooting for me.

I made it home. I got off my bike, got inside, and I heard a scream. I was too late. I knew it, and all of my friends knew it. I ran to Jonathan’s room, opening the door and looking down at the floor. There was nothing to be seen. I looked around, slowly moving around as to not knock anything over.  
“Will! On the table!” Mike spoke.  
I looked over at the table, and Mike was right. There was my family. My mom, and my brother, small just like my friends. Whatever got my friends had gotten them too. I ran over, my eyes watering with worry, but Mom looked relieved.  
“Look at how big you’ve gotten, sweetie!”  
“Now isn’t the time, Mom! Did you see what got you? Jonathan? What about you?”  
“I tried looking in the garage and the shed and I got a face full of something I didn’t like, like some sort of smog. I went back to my room to retrace my steps, and I blacked out… and here I am.”  
“Did you see what got you?” I repeated with emphasis. Jonathan looked up at me and shook his head. The answer was no. Neither of them saw what was coming. I bit my lip, and offered my hand to pick them up and put them in my backpack. My mom, though? She was still in some sort of euphoria or relief. She held one of my fingers to her forehead, crying.  
“Mom. It’s okay. But you don’t need to worry about me right now. We gotta help everyone in town. We have to check if they’re safe or not.”  
“Right, sweetie. I’ll watch over your friends for you.” I picked up my mom and my brother, and put them in my backpack, and locked the door. Steve’s, then the Wheeler place. We had to make sure everyone was safe.


	3. The Chief

“Eleven? Can you try to locate Steve and Nancy now? I don’t know if your powers work or not, but… can you try? I wanna know if we’re gonna make in time to either of them.” I asked. Moments later, I got my response. Eleven looked at Mike, then at me.  
“Go to the police station.”  
“What? Why?”  
“Just go to the police station! Hopper might have them.” She sounded exasperated. Tired. I stopped the bike and went to the side of the road, noticing that her face was bleeding. Mike was using his handkerchief to help stop the blood from flowing everywhere onto my shirt… apparently it took more out of her to use her powers like this. I looked up, and nodded.  
“Thanks, El. Everyone? Hold on. This might be a bumpy ride! I’m gonna try to get to the police station as fast as I can.” I pedaled hard and biked as fast as I could, narrowly avoiding odd looks from Billy as he saw me holding onto my shirt pocket as I biked along. “Don’t fall out, guys.” I muttered quietly.

I let go of my pocket. Thank goodness neither Mike or Eleven fell out, and I biked even faster. In no time at all, I arrived at the police station, backpack and everything, running inside.  
“Where’s Chief Hopper?” I quickly ran up to the desk where the secretary was… Flo, I think she was called? In just a short matter of moments, she contacted Hopper, who came out of his office. I bit my lip, pointing at my backpack. He raised an eyebrow, and gestured for me to follow him into his office.  
“What’s the issue this time, Byers?” He closed the door, and we sat ourselves down. I scooted up and put my backpack on his desk, opening up the zipper, with my friends and family carefully walking out. I lifted up Mike and El from my shirt pocket, setting them on his desk as well. Hopper didn’t look at all surprised, and… oddly… he laughed about it, pulling out something from a drawer under his desk… there, I saw a miniaturized Steve and Nancy, looking tired and exhausted.  
“Where… where’d you find them? Do you know what happened to them?”  
“Honestly, kid? I’m probably in the same place as you. I’ve got no idea how it happened or what happened, but you have to have a lead. What do you know?”  
“There’s some sort of eerie fog or smog of sorts that might be causing all of this to happen. I haven’t really seen it for myself, but everyone else has seen it, but they don’t know where it comes from. El thinks it might be from the Upside Down… and I think so too. But this weird haze has to come from somewhere… it’s gotta come from something. I’m trying to pinpoint it.”  
“That’s a lot of responsibility for a kid like you. You sure you can handle any of this?”  
“If I can handle finding my friends and keeping them safe and alive while they’re small like this, I’m sure I can track down whatever the source of the fog is. Can we work together on this?”  
“Kid? You wanna be a junior cop or detective for this case? Leave them here and I’ll work on the case. This isn’t a game, kid.”  
“I know it’s not. I’ve been at this for hours, biking slowly and carefully, making sure my backpack is zipped up so they don’t suffocate or anything…”  
“They’re not pets or toys. They’re live people.”  
“I know. Both of us know that. I knew that the moment I saw Mike this morning.”  
“Hopper! Let my son help! He and you are the only ones big enough right now to go against whatever shrunk us.” My mom yelled, looking up at Hopper.  
“Joyce, please. This is one heck of a case. If anyone’s got to do it, it has to be me. I...”  
“HOPPER.” Mom shook her head and started glaring at him.  
“Alright, alright. Kid? You’re coming with me. Bring everyone with you.”  
“Hey? Will? Can I call shotgun?” Dustin asked, causing Hopper to raise an eyebrow. I chuckled.  
“They… kind of treat me like a vehicle since I get around faster than them right now. My shirt-pocket is like a car seat, I guess.”  
“Byers. Where do you think the fog’s headed?”  
“Probably to Mirkwood, chief.”  
“Then that’s where we’re headed.” The chief rubbed the top of my head with his hand. I nodded and gathered everyone in my backpack, bringing Dustin into my shirt pocket.  
“Don’t lose your hat, Dustin.” I looked down.  
“Got it, big guy.” Dustin gave me a thumbs up as I carefully zipped up my backpack and made my way to follow Hopper out the door.  
“Flo? Can you bring Byers’ bike home? I’m taking him for a ride around town.”  
“What for, chief?” Officer Powell, another member of the force, raised an eyebrow. I was about to say something before Hopper covered my mouth.  
“It’s about high school. Gotta set a good example as the police chief.” He winked at me.  
“Uh… right.” I replied. The two of us… no. The ten of us headed outside to Hopper’s car, and I sat in the seat beside him. Eleven seemed to have left a box of Eggos behind in one of the seat pockets from another car ride.  
“Hey? Eleven? Do you mind if I have an Eggo?” I asked. Minor squabbling was heard from my bag… apparently Eleven was being a bit stubborn about it. That Eleven finally reached a decision.  
“Sure.”  
“Great. I’ll save the rest in there for you.” I took a bite and sat in the car as it drove on, looking for any sign of the fog or anything that was out of the ordinary.

It didn’t take long for us to get to Mirkwood.


	4. Stand Tall

At Mirkwood, Hopper and I got out of the police car and got to work. With flashlights ready, we looked around the area... and not a moment too soon came the fog.

“Show yourself!” I spoke, shining the light in the fog.

Mike quickly tugged at my shirt and told me to look down... and I quickly found an unconscious Hopper, now shrunk to the same size as the rest of the group. He’d gotten attacked. With a light grip, I quickly put him in my backpack with the others... and then my confidence quickly dropped.

I didn’t think I’d be able to keep going. This monster... this thing causing the fog... it could shrink the entire town. Would there be any way to reverse it? And even if I was immune to the fog, how could I take it down?

I wasn’t a badass like Steve Harrington with his spiked bat. I didn’t have powers like El. I wasn’t strong like Hopper. What could I do?

I took a step forward into the fog, still looking around with my flashlight—and at last I’d saw it.

It looked like a bigger one of those Mogwai creatures from the movie Gremlins, about my height. It was weak and dilapidated with mushrooms and all sorts of strange fungus all over its body, especially on its back.

I stared it down, keeping my distance. It seemed to know that its smog had no effect—and that I couldn’t do much against it right now.

“So that’s the monster?” Dustin spoke, poking his head out of his backpack.

“You’re bigger than any of us. You can take that critter down and put it back where it came from. There has to be some sort of gate it came through,” Jonathan added.

“I can’t do this. Even if it’s a little monster, I... don’t know if I can do it. If it was able to get all of you...”

“Quit it with that attitude, Will. You need to stop it. Figure out a way to neutralize it, capture it... and put it back,” Mike added. 

“Easier said than done.”

“Just try it. Stand tall because no one here can. Go crazy and grab it, chase it down, and bring it back to the Upside Down. You don’t have to fight it,” Joyce spoke up.

“Or you might have to in the end, Byers. Odds are it’ll try to shrink its prey and eat it. We’re lucky we managed to get away before it could do that. Go for a left hook, then a right hook. Don’t be afraid to give it a good kick. It’s messing with one of the bravest kids in Hawkins. Make sure it knows not to do that,” Steve said as I followed the monster as it began to try and skitter away.

That was good enough of a pep talk.

“Stand tall, Will Byers!” I told myself. “Stand tall!”

I quickly caught up to the monster just before it made its way out of Mirkwood and toward my neighborhood, near my house. With a kick to its back, it let loose a grumpy chitter and its mouth showed off its tongue... which split into numerous heads like a demogorgon. I shook my head, unfazed, and attacked it. A punch to the left, a punch to the right... and it retaliated too, spewing smog in my face and attempting to get away.

I brushed it off and chased it to my house. Once inside, it seemed to be searching for something... something to attack me with. But I wouldn’t let it get the time of day. I kept going after it, and nabbed a frying pan from the kitchen... and whacked it in the head. It was stunned for a moment... and I grabbed it, trying to pummel it. It screeched and chittered... and there I saw a crack in the wall... a portal to the Upside Down, like I had seen a couple years ago when I’d tried to escape back to Hawkins myself.

I gave the monster another smack with the pan to keep it incapacitated... and dragged it over to the portal. With a couple of scratches and scrapes, I’d managed to get it to open up a bit, and prepped to toss the little demon inside before it would seal up.

But it wasn’t gonna go without a fight, as expected. I felt a bite—it hurt like crazy. And maybe a hit to my gut... but I wouldn’t go out either. Grabbing the monster, I tossed it to the ground and prepared to toss it again into the portal.

Another bite. I gritted my teeth and threw it in, and did what I could to block it from coming back as the small portal closed. With a toss of my backpack onto the couch, I let out a battle cry not unlike what you would hear in a D&D campaign, plucking off some of the fungi from its back with a free hand, then kicked the little monster back in when it tried to escape as best as it could.

And that was that. The fungal, foggy monster terrorizing Hawkins was gone... but how would everyone return to normal?

But there was no need to answer that. The moment I turned around I heard a rip... my backpack was destroyed... and a bunch of friends were gathered in my living room. Hopper was awake and conscious, but still a bit disoriented. Everyone looked a bit disheveled and dirty... but I couldn’t help but laugh to see everyone back to normal.

“One hell of an adventure that little shit put us through, huh?” Dustin said, putting his hand in his hair and shaking his head.

“I’m just glad you guys are all safe and sound.”

“You didn’t need to toss us onto the couch,” Lucas complained, rubbing the back of his head. The throw seemed to have left a couple of them dizzy.

I looked to Mom, and she had a look of relief on her face.

“You... got rid of it, right? Sent it back where it came from?”

“Byers pummeled it too, didn’t he? Gotta be a bit out of shape to come back.”

“I best the crap out of it and tore off some of the fungus.”

“That explains the goop and gunk on your hands, then. Probably won’t be able to regrow those for a long time.”

“So it’s not gonna be coming back or causing problems anytime soon? That’s a relief,” Lucas spoke.

“You don’t wanna be Little Lucas?” Max chuckled.

“It’s not coming back,” El spoke, wiping her nose.

“You got the little monster causing trouble?” Hopper said, shaking his head, looking at me and then El. I nodded in response, and he walked over and gave me a good pat on the back.

“Well done, kid. Didn’t think you had it in you.”

* * *

But the adventures were far from over.

Even if life did return to normal for a bit, it wouldn’t last. 

Stranger things have happened here, and they would only get even stranger and stranger.

Was the under-construction Starcourt Mall safe from this sort of thing? I doubted it. There’d be more of this weird stuff happening in the future, but what they are is a mystery, even to me. Best that people take what they can before things go crazy.


End file.
